Night of the Hunter
It didn’t make any sense. The sigil branded on Reese was used for summoning and wielding power, and it was always used on surfaces like floors and grass, so it could generate portals. What the hell would it do when imprinted onto a person’s flesh?
By morning, Blaine still hadn’t woken up. Without Doctor Madsen, and the fact that Val had never heard of anything like this before, I only had one other person to turn to. If my calculations were correct, I still had a few questions saved in my piggy bank, and it was time to cash in on them.
I couldn’t remember the Sagax’s number, and if I spent another minute trapped in that hospital bed, I was going to Hulk out, runes or not. With Val’s assistance, I ‘persuaded’ my doctors to release me and had him drop me off at the manor so I could retrieve the business card Nick had given me.
Since I’d lost my jacket after having to abandon it outside the van last night, Val had been kind enough to let me commandeer his, something he apparently had never done before. The leather racing jacket obviously held a lot of sentimental value, another sign that he hadn’t completely shut off his humanity. As we headed into the foyer, I thanked him and returned the trusty jacket before making my way upstairs. It had started snowing outside, so I could only pray that Reese had grabbed another one of my warmer jackets from my aunt’s house as I perused the suitcases he’d packed for me.
The first two bags were a bust, so I moved on to the third, unzipping the main compartment. I peeled open the cover, finding a black and white apparel box sitting on top, its red silk bow flattened from the compression of the other luggage. Blaine’s gift. The one I’d never opened. I hadn’t told Reese about it, because I’d sworn to myself that I wouldn’t entertain Blaine’s head games by seeing what was inside.
A corner of the envelope tucked beneath the ribbon poked out, and I at last surrendered to my curiosity. I expected to find the same letter inside, which had simply said, ‘Bygones?’
Instead, I found a piece of stationery written in inked calligraphy.
“Benjamin Franklin once said to never ruin an apology with an excuse. For the moment, I cannot give you reasons for my actions, and I know what I have done cannot be forgiven. But if you let me, I would like to return what is yours, even if I can only do so in the smallest way…”
I unfastened the bow and slid the ribbons off the box. Being as how I’d thrown it out the window and into the side of Blaine’s house, the crinkled corners of the box put up a little bit of a fight as I struggled to pull up the lid.
I laughed.
Inside rested my beloved leather jacket that Daniel had taken off me when I was unconscious the night of my Great Rite. I’d thought I’d lost it for good, but its vintage studded shoulders and familiar smell greeted me as I pulled it out of the box. I gasped, spotting the white fabric underneath. I’d spent hours trying to find the shirt online, but no retailer had it. Only the little vintage shop I found in New York had ever carried it, and they were long out of stock. Even if it was a little battered, I would have kept the one I already had, but considering the holes and the cuts and the amount of blood I’d accumulated, it was fit for nothing but the trash. Yet, a strikingly identical off-the-shoulder Sex Pistols tee sat inside the box, and it just so happened to be in my size.
Wanting to save the coveted shirt for a special occasion, I nestled it safely back into the box, but still opted to sport the jacket. The lush lining immediately secured my body heat inside the fabric, warming me instantly.
“What’s the holdup, Doll Face?” Val called out from the foyer.
I grabbed the business card from the bedside and hurried back downstairs.
Once again using the burner phone Reese had given me, I dialed the number. I expected to hear the Sagax’s usual greeting when instead she said, “Corner of Nickels and Colonial,” before hanging back up.
Sure enough, when we convened with Reese at the intersection of Nickels Street and Colonial Boulevard in the rather shady area of Mystic Harbor’s West End, we found a foreclosure property with the front door already open. I took Reese’s hand as we headed inside, with Val bringing up the rear.
Surveying the vacant space, I stepped into the living room, only to shriek and dart back into the foyer, hiding behind Reese as if to use him as a human shield.
“Scared of Morticia Addams, are we?” the Dark Mage chuckled.
“No!” I shot him a dirty look, pointing to the entrance of the room just as a rodent scampered out of it and raced past our feet. In fact, calling it a mere rodent didn’t do it justice. The rat was actually the size of a small cat!
“There are far worse things in this world to fear, my darling.” The cooing voice sent us all whirling around to the staircase, watching the Sagax descend the steps with such fluid grace amid the long, flowing skirts of her dress. While it seemed the rest of us couldn’t avoid making a racket, I truly suspected the woman in question just floated above the ground, because not a single floorboard of this dilapidated house creaked beneath her as she headed into the living room.
Without any furniture, the three of us just stood awkwardly in the entranceway as the Sagax strolled about, seeming to admire the cracks in the wall and the water stains on the ceiling.
“Oooookay,” Val mouthed, clearly finding the woman to be a few fries short of a Happy Meal.
I finally cleared my throat, hoping to regain her attention. The sooner we got out of this dump, the better. “We wanted to ask you—”
“What is the mark on your beloved’s neck?” she mused, her gaze fixated on the fireplace mantel as she dragged a finger across its dust-covered surface. “It has been around for millennia, though I haven’t seen it used in quite some time. Its purpose is to summon power to a Mage, or to wield control over one.” The Sagax finally turned to face us, her attention fixed on Reese. “When branded on one’s skin, it transcends being a mere spell.”
Reese already knew that much. “A hex.”
“Indeed. Its effect may not be immediate, but the power inside you will eventually begin to bend to your Master’s desires.”
“What does that mean?” I blurted, instantly wanting to kick myself for using up a question like that. I needed to be specific. And I needed self-control. But I couldn’t help it. The panic surging in me was making my arm burn as my Distress rune hummed wildly. Yet, its power remained at my fingertips, waiting patiently to be used, if need be.
“Allow the energy to become a part of you.”
At last, I understood what Blaine meant. For the first time, I wasn’t afraid of my magic. I wasn’t fighting it, and in turn, it wasn’t fighting back.
“When summoned,” the Sagax cooed, “your beloved will not have power over his actions. Whether he wants to or not, he will have to do as his Master wishes of him. And when the hex takes over completely, his mind will be lost as well.”
Reese’s hand went limp in my hold. All the blood drained from his face. He was shaking his head. “No…”
Now I knew how he felt, when he learned of my hex. Hopeless, useless, desperate. I couldn’t do anything, or even say anything to help him. I just squeezed his hand tighter.
The Sagax looked down at my other hand, at the clenched fist as the pale blue light poured out of my left sleeve. Her eyes traveled back up to meet mine. Of all things, she looked surprised. “You have already seen this.”
Reese snapped out of the daze he had fallen in, his head snapping in my direction. “What?”
I shook my head, but the Sagax extended a hand out, her long, slender finger gesturing to his neck.
“Touch it, and see for yourself.”
Reese staggered back, trying to pull himself free from my grip.
“For God’s sake.” Frustrated, Val grabbed my other hand and yanked it over to Reese’s neck, clamping it down on the sigil.
Exhausted.
I was…exhausted, and the bitter cold burned my lungs more and more with every inhale. I blindly hastened through the thicket, desperately yanking at the fabric of my skirt as it continued getting caught on the clawing branches all around me as. I could feel the skin on my arms breaking the further I batted my way through, but at last, a gold glow appeared in the distance. I repeatedly stumbled and fell as my feet snagged on tethers of tree roots and foliage.
Finally, I burst out into the open, gasping in horror at the grisly sight. The torches lining the forest were the only source of light in the dead of night, but the shadows couldn’t conceal the carnage. Countless bodies lay contorted across the distance of the battlefield, the earth soaked in pools of blood. Lifting the hem of my skirt, I frantically hustled out into the gory meadow, cautiously maneuvering my feet between the corpses sprawled out all around.
A faint figure stood crouched down in the distance, their back faced towards me. Warm brown hair eventually became visible as I came closer.
“Reese!” I cried out, racing to him with no other objective but to throw myself into his arms.
The thought fleeted though the moment I arrived not ten feet from him. He was knelt down in front of a particular body, and I could barely make out the plastered black locks splayed across the corpse’s forehead.
“No.” The word barely escaped my lips as my knees buckled under me. I forced myself up and hysterically raced over to the two, falling down right beside Reese to confirm my worse fear. “No, no, no, no!”
I frantically combed the raven black hair from the obscured face, only to be met with striking, blood-spattered cheekbones and frozen blue eyes staring blankly into the void of the night sky.
Blaine!
My chest dragged on each agonizing breath as a downpour of tears expelled from my own eyes. I continued to coddle his face in my trembling hands, pleading desperately for him to come back to me. A fading warmth still lingered on his skin, and it only made the anguish hit harder.
I couldn’t get to him in time.
I crumpled over, burying my face into the crook of his neck as inconsolable cries stole my breath. My hand trailed down from his shoulder, and I sat paralyzed in place as it fell into a grimy cavity on the left side of his chest. I barely managed the strength to pull myself up as I looked down at my blood-soaked hand, my gaze fretfully then following down to the massive hollowed crater in Blaine’s ribcage.
His heart.
It was gone.
Ripped clean out of him.
“Reese,” I muttered. “What…what happened to him?”
Of all things, the boy beside me let out a raw chuckle.
“Babe?” I turned to him, seeing blood dripping from his fingertips as he mused contentedly at Blaine’s body. “Reese?”
He lifted his left hand, watching the blood trickle down from his nails to the cufflinks of his jacket. He laughed openly again, this time baring a bloodstained set of teeth. Crimson liquid trailed down the corners of his lips as he placed two fingers into his mouth, releasing a gratifying moan at the taste of the blood.
“R-Ree-Reese…”
He rose to his feet, and I stumbled sideways.
“Reese, w-what’ve you done?” I whimpered, suddenly noticing the massive filigree blade sheathed on his right side as he turned to face me.
“Call it…just desserts,” he crooned, removing the sword from the scabbard.
“Reese—”
“Your precious ‘mate’ got what was coming to him, something you’re about to learn for yourself all too well.” His grotesque grin didn’t subside as he strode toward me with the blade gripped securely in his grasp.
“Reese, what are you doing?” I cried.
He rolled his shoulders in preparation, the high collar of his jacket sliding down his neck just enough to reveal the pale light seeping from the horrid rune marring his skin. “Settling the score, Princess.”
Backpedaling hopelessly on the ground, I finally managed to climb to my feet as he patiently ambled closer. Mania drove my body, forcing each foot in front of the other.
Leaping frantically between the corpses of slain men, I started to gain some distance between Reese and me. A blast abruptly detonated, and a searing pain suddenly ripped through the back of my shoulder to the front of my chest, whirling me around as my body crashed to the ground. Desperately attempting to climb up again, I was only sent back down into the soil as all the muscles on the left side of my chest felt like they were being ripped apart.
“You didn’t honestly think I’d make it that easy for you to scamper off, did you?” Reese laughed as he placed what I now saw was a pistol back into his jacket. He picked up the Sanctus blade from the ground, admiring the blood already staining it. “It’s finally your turn.”
I couldn’t help but cry from the excruciating pains tearing through my shoulder, but I couldn’t yield to it. Tossing my weight over, I lay on my stomach and began crawling across the grass with only one functional arm to help pull me along.
“‘And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers,’” annunciated Reese, his footsteps reaching closer and closer. I screamed as the heel to Reese’s boot suddenly dug into the gunshot wound on my back, pinning me face-first into the ground. “‘And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.’”
He booted me over so hard, the impact knocked the wind right out of me as a rib cracked.
“Reese,” I gasped, “please…don’t—”
“Oh.” He knelt down over me, brushing the mess of hair out of my eyes. “It’s only fair, love. You broke my heart; now I take yours.” Reese lifted up the blade, taunting me as he traced the tip of it above the organ in question.
I turned my face away, seeing Blaine’s lifeless body lying in the distance. My stomach lurched, and my fist closed around a small rock I filched from the ground beside me. Rocketing as much momentum as I could muster, I heaved my arm up, slamming the stone right into the temple of Reese’s skull. He crumpled over with a howl, and I barely managed to scuttle out from under him.
“Bitch!” He snapped up to his feet and rushed right at me.
The earth swayed woozily as I frantically tried to outrun him, but an arm hooked around my waist and I was hurled down into the dirt with another brutal impact. Reese lunged on top of me, his fingers clenching around my throat. I tried batting my good arm at him, clawing my nails into his face. He let go of my neck and ripped my hand away, leaving me completely pinned under his weight. No matter how hard I wrestled and kicked, I couldn’t get his weight up. And with that sword so close, my runes wouldn’t work.
“Poetic, isn’t it? The bastard and the bitch die together, yet again,” Reese sneered. The Sanctus blade appeared in his right hand. “Sanguis quia sanguis.”
“I love you! Please, Reese, don’t do this!”
“Awww, I love you, too,” he crooned, casting me another fiendish, bloody grin. He slowly drove the steel down, savoring the moment as he merrily watched the blade plunge into my chest. “I just happen to hate you a whole lot more.”
“Kat?”
I screamed, my entire body heaving in hysterics as I ripped my fingers away. Amber eyes glittered in front of me the moment my vision refocused, and I cried out again at the sight, flailing out from Reese’s hold as his hands tried steadying me.
“Have fun with Lover Boy,” the Irishman had laughed.
Another set of hands caught me just as I fell back. “Kat? What happened?” asked Val. “What did you see?”
The fear radiating from Reese’s eyes brought me to tears as his hand clasped over the marking on his neck. I looked back to the Sagax.
She merely tilted her head. “I told you, child, to protect your heart.”
My…heart. Not in the emotional sense, but… “It wasn’t my dad.”
“What are you talking about, Doll Face?” Val further insisted. “What happened?”
“My vision. It wasn’t warning me about my father,” I muttered, slowly peeling my eyes back to the beautiful boy in front of me. It was him.